Thursday, November 26, 2015

Thanksgiving at Duke

This Thanksgiving, on national television, we will get to watch the latest chapter in the Greg Hardy saga play out. A man who committed unrepentant acts of domestic violence, scooped up by a narcissistic vulture of an owner for the greater glory of his investment, shielded by the weakest of claims of concern and vetting. But hey, Cowboys games on Thanksgiving are a tradition, and the show must go on.Often mentioned in the same breath with the Cowboys is Duke basketball, that relentless, not-always-lovable win factory located in Durham. Today, over Thanksgiving brunch, Duke star Grayson Allen took some time away from grabbing a meal with his teammates and family to chat with my nephew, who is a stone cold Duke fan. He certainly did not need to do this, not on the holiday, not with his family there, not with his teammates there. But he did, and it made my nephew's day. Later, members of the team joined my sister and her family for a group photo, In it, my nephew's grinning so widely I'm afraid the top of his head's going to pop off.So it would be easy and not wrong to stew over Hardy's continued, cynical employment by the Cowboys. But today, at least, I'm instead going to be thankful for a bunch of incredibly gifted college students who were nice to my nephew when they didn't have to be, and put a big smile on his face.